Rad Manual: Difference between revisions

Most community organizations that become coopted do so to survive. The present state of capital has led to difficult situations, high levels of unemployment, and precarious work.  Downsizing of state, has resulted in broad cuts to social services.

Dependency on state and foundations money has resulted in an increase in bureaucratization, professionalization,  and specialization in order to comply with state and foundation guidelines and rules. While the state is opting out collective responsibility, attacking the concept of universality, democratic rights and putting the burden of social costs on individuals and community, community groups are seen as alternatives to institutions but without the financing. So emphasis is put on service providing, and on immediate needs instead of organizing mass-based  movements.  Militant/activist work is replaced by voluntarism/specialization/expertism. No longer are community organizations defending the exploited and oppressed and trying to socially change the structures that upholds such oppression and exploitation, but are in fact contributing to such systems.

Theory needs to be understood as an attempt to make sense of encounters, patterns, and regularities of the world  so to predict outcomes of actions, and a better understanding of the world. (taken from Keith Popple's Analysing Community Work: Its Theory and Practice).

(Taken for Eric Shragge's Activism and Social Change).

Acting directly to represent our interest ourselves.  

Direct Action Refers to any action that cuts out the middle man and solves problems directly, without appealing to elected representatives, corporate interests, and other powers.

(taken from Shawn Ewald's Anarchism in Action: Methods, Tactics, Skills, and Ideas; and “Dont Vote-Organize.)

is about changing relationships between the governors and the governed, national ideals and local realities, technology and humanity.  (Taken from Community Organizing: Canadian Experiences, by Brian Wharf, and Michael Clague).

Is about redistributing power and resources. (Taken from Community Organizing: Canadian Experiences, by Brian Wharf, and Michael Clague).

Is a site where people learn the true value of their work and how the dominant system excludes them (Friere).

Registering as a charity is a process through the Canada Revenue Agency, different from registering as non-profit organization. Organizations that have charitable status are exempt from income tax and can issue tax receipts for donations.

Why incorporate?

government” to be “retained, opposed or changed”. Non-partisan political

activities are the only type of political activities charities can organize or

Charity Status:

*Monitor and control social justice movements.

(From James Petras in Imperialism and NGOs in Latin America).

*"...vision of progressive revolutionary change was based of the role of critical education in achieving mass political consciousness with democratic, grassroots base rather than an elite leadership"-(Margaret Ledwith in Community Development: A Critical Approach, talking of Antonio Gramsci).

*Midwest Academy Strategy Chart: P. 156 from E. Shragge 1st course pack.

*As social anarchists we inherit a body of theory (based on experience) that appears to grow more powerful as time passes. For us an analysis of power relations that locates oppression in hierarchy and domination gives us insights into many contemporary social movements -- insights that many in these movements may miss themselves. However, while we have the bare bones of an overarching social theory, we are obliged to learn from the new social movements in order to flesh out that theory. Thus we actively listen and learn from people of color about Eurocentrism and other forms of racism, from gay and lesbian activists about heterosexism and homophobia, from animal advocates about speciesism, etc.colin wright

*Meetings

*Zine Library

http://zinelibrary.info/

"What I'm trying to do is point to a future when art will no longer exist as a category seperate from life."-Jerry Dreva  

*culture that is part of liberation

*Men in Feminism: Men must struggle to create for themselves a kind of experience of their own gender location which male supremacy has forbidden.Sandra Harding ( p.286)  

*Feminism and the Liberal/Radical Split: the achievement of full freedom for women (all women, not a privileged few) presupposes such profound economic, social and political changes that, were such a historical development to take place, the present status quo could not and would not survive. Hester Eisenstein (p. xvii)  

*Feminist radicals, in contrast to feminist liberals, believe that the entire system -- patriarchal liberalism -- is a flawed construct, designed by and for men in their own interest. Thus, for these feminists, feminism is nothing less than revolutionary.

*Co-optation leads to grassroots feminist organizations becoming services in and of themselves, and extensions of the social services delivery system.

**co-optation: Co-optation, that is the assimilation of something different into the mainstream, is a constant problem for any political movement.  

**Direct Action: Acting directly to represent our interest ourselves. Refers to any action that cuts out the middle man and solves problems directly, eithout appealing to elected reps, corporate interests, and other powers. (taken from Shawn Ewald's Anarchism in Action: Methods, Tactics, Skills, and Ideas.)

Cooperative :

*Self-mobilization : spread if government and NGOs provide an enabling framework of support. Such self-initiated mobilization may or may not challenge existing distributions of wealth and power.  

===quotes===

*Today the task is to make the system comply with the transformation of the world.Raoul Vaneigem